Source: Newvision.co.UGBy Samuel SanyaThe UK government has put together a £10m (sh41b) fund to fight illegal wildlife trade in developing countries such as Uganda in a bid to fight corruption and improve tourism earnings.

The fund will finance activities at government level, charities and non-government organisations. Wildlife trafficking is estimated to be worth at least £12b (sh48 trillion) annually and is a constant threat to the tourism sector as it depletes wildlife in game parks.

Recently, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) joined a multinational move to stamp out of trafficking of elephant ivory, rhino horns, big cats, great apes and reptiles.

Funding from the DFID programme will bolster on-going efforts to protect Uganda’s wildlife by providing training and specialised equipment and by raising awareness of the impacts and economic losses caused by wildlife crime to curb illegal wildlife demand.

“Poaching devastates livelihoods and sustainable communities as well as endangering the existence of these wonderful animals,” Owen Paterson, the UK government Environment Secretary said in a statement.

“We must work together with other countries to stamp it out by stopping demand, improving enforcement and by helping communities develop sustainable economic activity,

“The wildlife in areas where this is already being done becomes a valued and protected community asset so both the wildlife and the community benefit,” he added.

Paterson noted that heavily armed poachers and organised criminal networks are destroying some of the world’s most iconic species and posing a threat to security in rural African communities.

Revenues from tourism hit sh2.7trillion last year. Many tourists trek to Uganda to view the unique landscapes, lakes, and unique mammals such as the mountain gorillas, monkeys, rhinos, African elephants, lions and chimpanzees. More....

Source: Citizensvoice.comBy Patricia Marks (Letter to the Editor)Chimpanzees share 98 percent of our genetic heritage and many of the characteristics that we think of as human.Chimpanzees form strong family bonds where big sisters "adopt" younger siblings after the death of a mother.They laugh and play, nurture and teach their young, and display a wide range of emotions, including profound grief when a family member dies.These special characteristics don't protect chimpanzees from greed, inhumanity, or the desperate conditions that drive people who hunt them.They and other endangered species are targets of the illegal commercial bushmeat trade, the hunting of wild animals to supply the growing demand for wild meat. This appalling practice is not driven by the need to feed starving local people or to help them have a better life. Instead, bushmeat ends up in city markets and expensive restaurants throughout Equatorial Africa. Bushmeat can also be found in international markets around the world, even in the United States."Delicacies" like gorilla hands also find their way to the tables of the wealthy, not only in African countries, but around the globe.In one instance, researchers found an estimated 270 tons of bushmeat passing through Paris alone. It is considered a status symbol, what it really is is a crime.Those who are motivated by the moral and ethical code of living need to urge your members of the House and Senate to support efforts to stop the International trade of endangered species and discourage irresponsible logging and other destructive activities in protected areas. In this geographical area, contact Representative Matt Cartwright, and Senators Robert Casey and Pat Toomey. Names of legislators for particular districts can be found on line. For more information contact www.janegoodall.org

Source: Ipsnews.netBy Cam McGrathAt a small pet shop in an upscale Cairo neighbourhood, puppies, kittens and sickly-looking parakeets occupy the cages behind the storefront window. But if you want more exciting and exotic animals – such as crocodiles or lion cubs – just ask behind the counter. Trade in wild animals is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), of which Egypt is a signatory. But decades of ineffective border controls and police indifference have made the country a major hub for the trafficking of wildlife. Conservationists suspect that criminal gangs have expanded their networks and stepped up shipments of protected and endangered species under cover of the political turmoil that has engulfed the region since the start of the Arab Spring. “Since the revolution in 2011, Egypt has fewer resources for enforcement, and traffickers have recognised this,” an environment ministry official told IPS. “The country is facing many serious political and economic problems, and checking shipments for wildlife is not a priority.”Cairo is less a destination than a transit point for animals trafficked from Africa to markets in Asia and the Arab Gulf states. Rare and endangered animals are concealed in air and sea shipments, or smuggled overland through the porous borders of Libya and Sudan. In recent years, authorities have seized satchels full of dying tortoises, rare birds stuffed into toilet paper rolls with their beaks tied shut, and a pair of dolphins floundering in a murky swimming pool. Foreign customs officers have also discovered baby chimpanzees drugged with cough syrup and crammed into crates shipped from Egypt. Many of the trafficked animals are kept in rented apartments in Cairo and Alexandria that act as showrooms for prospective buyers. Others fill the overcrowded and dirty cages of disreputable pet shops, or end up in the country’s growing number of private zoos. One licensed pet store in Cairo’s Zamalek district had its front end geared for the pampered pets of the district’s affluent residents, with imported pet foods, rhinestone studded dog collars, and colourful catnip toys. Further back the shop catered to more exotic tastes, with pens of juvenile crocodiles, caged fennec foxes, and a full-grown vulture that was eventually sold to a local businessman for 1,200 dollars. The pet store was shuttered last year after municipal authorities acted on residents’ complaints. More....

Source: FreeMalaysiatoday.comBy Alfian ZM TahirRecent information obtained from a local animal rights organisation highlighted the Johor Zoo as the worst in Malaysia as the animals are kept in inadequate and poor conditions. Throughout the world a zoo is a place of care and shelter for wild animals kept in captivity. It is a place where the public can learn to appreciate wildlife in safety, unfortunately the Johor Zoo is one filled with mistreated and near neglected animals. “The zoo (Johor Bahru zoo) is the worst ever. They have yet to change the old cages and upgrade to better facilities for the animals,” “ After widespread bad publicity, elephants and orangutans were previously confiscated by Perhilitan, from this zoo.” “The management are clearly incapable and uncaring,” said Sean Whyte from Nature Alert. Angry at the level of animal mistreatment witnessed at the Johor Zoo, Sean hit out against the Malaysia Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) director general Rashid Shamsudin for neglecting the animal’s suffering. “By permitting Johor Zoo to remain open, Rashid Samsudin is allowing those poor animals to suffer. This is an act of negligence. He should have resigned a long time ago,” he said. Malaysian Friends of the Animal’s (MFOTA) spokesperson Hasrul Mohamed told FMT that wildlife cruelty can be witnessed throughout the zoo. Hasrul expressed concerns regarding the cages and pens which he described as not being in compliance with the minimum standard specifications outlined in the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010. He was also not sure as to whether the zoo had a veterinarian on hand to treat and care for sick animals. “Cruelty can be seen every where in the zoo. It is an open secret. We doubt if any of the cages meet the requirements stipulated under the Wildlife Act and we question as to how the zoo can still be allowed to operate when it is obviously breaking the law,” “Do they hire any vets? It is a legal requirement under the new act, and if so, how has he or she allowed such brutality to continue,” Hasrul added. Hasrul then cited examples where Sun bears are made to live under extreme stressful conditions due to the deplorable and inhumane conditions of their cages. “Nature Alert have filed a complaint to Perhilitan which was clearly ignored (and they act) as if nothing has happened. “If you go to the zoo you can see how stressed out the Sun bears are.” More....

By Karl Ammann, Erick KaglanIn December 2012, Malaysia announced the discovery and confiscation of the largest illegal ivory shipment ever—six tons of raw tusks hidden among teak planks in a shipping container from Togo (alternative news reports talked of 24 tons). In July of this year, another two ton shipment of tusks of baby and teenage elephants was intercepted in Hong Kong, also coming from Togo. In addition to this, there were recently a range of confiscations from Vietnamese air passengers who were transporting ivory pieces disguised as wooden ornaments while traveling from Lome, the capital of Togo, to Nairobi. We documented the same type of camouflaged pieces of ivory being sold by a dealer outside of Hanoi, and I’m pretty convinced that these items were from the same production facility as the items confiscated in Nairobi. Bryan Christy, the author of the National Geographic magazine print feature on the ivory trade, in a subsequent blog entry on the subject pointed out that in the last 24 years not a single kingpin type of trafficker of ivory had ever been arrested and prosecuted—either at the production or consumer end of the supply chain. At about the same time as Bryan Christy’s reporting of this fact, a producer for ABC’s Nightline was putting out his feelers to do a story about the wildlife trade in Africa, approaching various NGOs and stakeholders with some background experience in these issues, including ourselves. It was clear that the main interest for ABC was ivory and maybe as a fallback position, the rhino horn trade. It would appear that Ofir Drori of LAGA, a Cameroon-based conservation NGO, then suggested the Togo ivory trail as a topic where relevant shooting sequences could be guaranteed and that the team, while en route, take in the arrest of a chimpanzee dealer that had some chimpanzee orphans on offer, which supposedly LAGA and its local counterpart in Guinea had lined up. This operation was delayed for several months after we reported—as part of another investigative documentary—the same dealer and the presence of two chimps to LAGA. By the time the operation was mounted to coincide with the arrival of the ABC team, the dealer and the two chimps had disappeared. At the Togo end, a local dealer had been pinpointed as a kingpin ivory trafficker. A South African investigator visited him at his shop to ask about the availability of ivory and got him to mention that he had sent ivory to Pakistan, Hong Kong, and China. This was, he now claims, part of a typical sales pitch which was then used as an admission of guilt and evidence that he was a big shot international exporter. However, the shop door still today has a posted letter from the French army commander of the local military contingent based in Togo and going back to the 1990 CITES ban on cross border trade, stating that exports of large amounts of ivory was now illegal and that any souvenir item exported should not exceed the value of 1,000 French francs! So he says he knew and accepted these restrictions, but they did not apply to domestic trade. Mr. N’Bouke was arrested in early August 2013 with a great deal of media fanfare. More....

In February this year Malaysian Friends of the Animals exposed cruelty to sunbears in one of Malaysia’s worst zoos, the Johor Zoo. Prior to that, Shirley the orangutan made headlines around the world when she was photographed smoking cigarettes, many times over. While Abu, another orangutan at this horrific zoo, spent most of his days caged. While Shirley was taken out of her hell Johor Zoo’s chimpanzees are still spending their daily lives in boredom and at the mercy of visitors. We have previously highlighted the problem of the chimps begging for food from the public, but Perhilitan never took action. We recently received pictures from a concerned supporter and they proved the problem of public junk food feeding of the chimps is still ongoing. Infact one visitor was seen trying to get the chimps to smoke a cigarette. Isn’t this a violation of the new law which Perhilitan was boastful about? Let’s not forget Johor Zoo were also exposed for abusing a baby elephant called Paloh in 2011, and it took a campaign to force Perhilitan to confiscate her and another elephant form the zoo. The elephant enclosure at Johor Zoo is still not suitable for elephants to live in and we are against any sent to Johor Zoo, also knowing this terrible zoo’s reputation. We demand Perhilitan take urgent action to stop public feeding of the chimpanzees at Johor Zoo. The zoo must unsure supervision of visitors is ever present during opening hours. Do Perhilitan want to wait until its too late?The writer is with Malaysian Friends Of the Animals

Source: YourHoustonnews.comBy Kelly GoochCatherine the rhesus macaque monkey was not in the best shape when she came to the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch. The 18-year-old was more than 40 pounds. Her previous owner allowed her to eat a poor diet and a lot of human food, which led to obesity, said Ben Callison, director of the sanctuary. But through some love and attention, he said she was able to lose weight. Now, Catherine is among the many animals that enjoy the sanctuary’s tranquil surroundings. Animals there include horses, bison, chimpanzees, ostriches, pigs, sheep, monkeys and iguanas. Noelle Almrud, director of animal care at Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch, said most of the animals there have had terrible lives, but the sanctuary is able to offer respect and quiet. Callison said the sanctuary’s mission is not to be an entertainment venue but rather a facility for education. “We want to make sure these animals can tell their story,” he told the Tyler Morning Telegraph (http://bit.ly/1bBaivT). The Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch was founded in 1979 and started with burros from the Grand Canyon that were going to be exterminated, Callison said. Horses, primates, exotic animals and farm animals followed. Nim Chimpsky, a famous chimpanzee who knew sign language, even lived there for years, according to the sanctuary website. Today, the sanctuary, which is an affiliate of the Humane Society of the United States, has 1,310 acres with more than 1,000 animals. Callison said hundreds of equine are on the property, and once the animals are at the sanctuary, they are there for life. “He wanted to create a place where animals could come and live out their life and never have to worry about anything again,” Callison said of Amory. More....

Source: Goodnature.nathab.comBy Elissa PomaDozens of customs officials bust through the door of a remote and quaint-looking farmhouse. The first thing Crawford Allan sees when he enters following the raid? A preserved chimpanzee head on a table in the living room, a macabre trinket on display like a family heirloom. It’s an image that flashes in Allan’s mind when he’s falling asleep at night. But it’s also a memory that continues to fuel his two decade-long battle against wildlife trafficking. Allan serves as senior director of TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade network run jointly by WWF and the World Conservation Union. In this interview with Good Nature Travel, Allan discusses the continued impact of wildlife crime on people and natural resources around the world and shines light on some of WWF’s recent accomplishments fighting wildlife crime.Q: What is the impact of wildlife trafficking on people around the world? Crawford Allan: Wildlife trafficking has a major impact on people and natural resources and the environment for a number of reasons, one being that it affects national security. The poaching and trafficking of things like elephant ivory in Africa are funding groups linked to terror. Wildlife trafficking also undermines social standing, sustainability, incomes, revenues and livelihoods for people in some of the poorest countries of the world, as their natural resources are stolen from them by criminal syndicates that are profiting from extinction.Q: What is causing the recent surge in wildlife crime? A: This unprecedented surge we’ve seen over the past couple of years or so is driven ultimately by greed—greed of criminal syndicates who have moved in and are profiteering. Also, they are pandering to newfound wealth and new affluence—this strange, mythical belief that certain animal products like rhino horn will cure disease or help you succeed socially by buying people an item of social standing, like rhino horn or ivory, as a gift. It’s a dynamic that is double edged. It’s great that there’s economic development and increased wealth in countries like China, but unfortunately some of the purchasing decisions being made by those people are really misguided. More....

Source: Malaysiandigest.comExotic wildlife meats including protected species are being sold openly at a market in Sabah's interior Nabawan town about 200km from Sabah's capital. "We received pictures from the public showing protected species slaughtered and sold in a tamu (open market) in the district of Nabawan," said Sabah Wildlife Department director Datuk Dr Laurentius Ambu. He added the protected species included binturong, common palm civet, banded palm civet, Malay civet, sambar deer, porcupine and blood python. "These species are definitely hunted from forest reserves and national parks where hunting is totally prohibited," he said. Ambu said his department would take full action against those responsible as such acts was "unacceptable". He said the bushmeat recovered would be sent to the newly opened Wildlife Health Genetic and Forensic Laboratory (WHGFL) in Kota Kinabalu to determine their species and origin. Wildlife department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan said that there was a clear and present danger to Sabah’s wildlife as illegal hunting and poaching were happening at an unprecedented rate. “They are fuelled by both local consumption and also by international illegal trade in wildlife,” he said.Danau Girang Field Centre director Dr Benoit Goossens said that there was evidence of illegal hunting happening in national parks and protected forests in Sabah based on evidence captured by camera traps. More....

Source: HSUS.typepad.comBy Wayne PacelleDuring President Obama’s tenure, The HSUS has worked to secure stronger policies from federal agencies to help animals – from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to the National Marine Fisheries Service to the National Institutes of Health. Every one of those agencies – and there are at least a dozen at the federal level relevant to our work – makes life and death decisions for animals. During the president’s first term, the administration was slow to respond to animal protection concerns. But the pace has picked up in a good way, although the results haven’t been uniformly positive. In last year’s 2012 Animal Protection Record, we noted that the administration made some strong moves to protect animals, but came up short in a number of areas. This year, 2013, has been the administration’s best year by a long shot, and we are giving out our best grade yet: B+. There are some gems in here, with the administration bucking powerful industries and siding with animal protection sensibilities in a few instances. There are still some adverse actions, such as national de-listing of wolves, a free pass for wind energy companies to kill protected eagles, and massive subsidies for the pork industry. But the list below is impressive and it’s something that administration officials should be proud of, and animal advocates should be pleased to see, as a collective set of actions. The 13 most notable agency actions in 2013 that significantly affected animals were:Chimpanzees – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) declared that it will retire the vast majority of the approximately 400 government-owned chimpanzees currently in laboratories to sanctuary. The NIH supported removing a spending barrier imposed by the CHIMP Act in order to sustain funding for the retirement of chimpanzees from laboratories to sanctuary, a fix signed into law by President Obama just before Thanksgiving. In addition, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) proposed listing all chimpanzees as endangered, regardless of whether they are in the wild or in captivity.Puppy Mills – In a long-awaited action that animal welfare advocates have been pushing for a decade, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) finalized a rule that closed a loophole in Animal Welfare Act regulations, now requiring that dealers who sell puppies and other warm-blooded animals as pets sight unseen, including over the Internet, be regulated. More....

Source: NYtimes.comBy James GormanWhat is a person? “Beings who recognize themselves as ‘I’s.’ Those are persons.” That was the view of Immanuel Kant, said Lori Gruen, a philosophy professor at Wesleyan University who thinks and writes often about nonhuman animals and the moral and philosophical issues involved in how we treat them. She was responding to questions in an interview last week after advocates used a new legal strategy to have chimpanzees recognized as legal persons, with a right to liberty, albeit a liberty with considerable limits. The Nonhuman Rights Project, an advocacy group led by Steven M. Wise, filed writs of habeas corpus in New York last week on behalf of four captive chimpanzees: Tommy, owned by a Gloversville couple; two at Stony Brook University; and one at the Primate Sanctuary in Niagara Falls. The lawsuits were dismissed, but Mr. Wise said he planned to appeal. He believes that the historical use of habeas corpus lawsuits as a tool against human slavery offers a model for how to fight for legal rights for nonhumans. His case relies heavily on science. Nine affidavits from scientists that were part of the court filings offer opinions of what research says about the lives, thinking ability and self-awareness of chimpanzees. Mr. Wise argues that chimps are enough like humans that they should have some legal rights; not the right to vote or freedom of religion — he is not aiming for a full-blown planet of the apes — but a limited right to bodily liberty. The suits asked that the chimps be freed to go to sanctuaries where they would have more freedom. Richard L. Cupp, a law professor at Pepperdine University in California who opposes granting rights to nonhuman animals, described the legal strategy as “far outside the mainstream.” He said in an email, “The courts would have to dramatically expand existing common law for the cases to succeed.” Lori Marino of Emory University, who studies dolphins and other cetaceans and is the science director of the Nonhuman Rights Project, said it “is about more than these four chimpanzees.” Mr. Wise, she said, “sees this as the knob that can turn a lot of things. It’s potentially transformative.” More....

Source: Nonhumanrightsproject.orgBy Natalie ProsinOur plaintiff did not walk into our office; he couldn’t. He is being held captive in solitary confinement in a small, dank, cement cage in a dark shed in temperatures 40 degrees below his native land. Our plaintiff is a chimpanzee named Tommy. Day in and day out Tommy lives a life of isolation in the back of a used trailer lot in Gloversville, New York, far from Africa where he has never been and will never get to go. He is unable to do the things that are natural to chimpanzees. He cannot build a nest, socialize with others of his own kind, or forage for food. It isn’t difficult to recognize from a moral or philosophical perspective that Tommy has an interest in not being confined under these conditions. But one’s awareness that Tommy’s situation is not ‘right’ is in another sense meaningless because Tommy, like any number of cognitively complex, self-aware nonhuman animals, is not a being whom the law recognizes as having any legal rights. What Tommy’s ‘owners’ are doing has been considered legal since the advent of our legal system and well before. Over the years, thousands of lawsuits have been filed trying to protect the interests of animals, but the fundamental paradox plaguing all of these cases is that the legal system does not recognize that a nonhuman animal has the capacity for any legal right at all. Animal welfare laws are without teeth when it comes to Tommy’s exploitation because our legal system sees Tommy only as an object of ownership; a mere piece of property that can be bought and sold, used for almost any purpose and, to a very large extent, treated in any way that his ‘owner’ sees fit. Legally speaking, Tommy is less than an animal; he is a thing, with about as much claim to justice as an inanimate object.This week the Nonhuman Rights Project has filed a series of lawsuits in the New York Supreme Court arguing that Tommy is not a piece of property but rather a legal person with the legal right to bodily liberty. This right protects the most fundamental interests of a being. Legal personhood determines who or what counts in the eyes of the law. If you are not a legal person, then you are considered, legally, a thing. Things exist for persons, while persons exist for themselves. Legal things are invisible to civil law judges. We are arguing that Tommy is being detained in violation of his right to bodily liberty and that he should be released to a reputable sanctuary. There he will live out his days with many other chimpanzees in an environment as close to the wild as possible. We have filed additional lawsuits on behalf of all the known chimpanzees in New York State, including Kiko, a chimpanzee who was exploited for years in the entertainment business, and Hercules and Leo, two chimpanzees being used in experiments at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. We had intended to include three other chimpanzees in our lawsuits, but within the past eight months they all died before we could give them their day in court. More....

Source: Onegreenplanet.orgBy Kristina Pepelko This year has been a positive one for U.S. primates. In June, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a rule that would extend protection to captive chimps by classifying them, like their wild counterparts, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Then this fall, nine lucky baboons, age 13 to 23, were finally removed from their lab cages and sent to Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary, where they’re living out the rest of their days in peace, freedom and comfort. Now, we can celebrate another great victory for U.S. primates. Just last week, President Obama signed the Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance and Protection Act into law, which facilitates the transfer of nearly all research chimps to sanctuaries. The bipartisan-supported amendment to the Public Health Service Act frees up spending restrictions on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for chimp retirement care. According to the National Journal, a 2000 law placed a $30 million spending cap on the NIH for the care of retired research chimps living in reserve sanctuaries – a cap that reached its limit this November. 50 chimps will remain with the NIH but 310 others will be retired to sanctuaries around the U.S. over the next five years. Federal funding will be given to these sanctuaries to help them expand and care for their new chimp residents. The funding will cost about half as much as it did when the chimps were housed in NIH facilities. The Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance and Protection Act signals a larger victory at hand too. NIH Director Francis S. Collins told Aljazeera America that “new scientific methods and technologies have rendered [chimp\ use in research largely unnecessary.” A 2011 study by the Institute of Medicine backs up this statement, noting a similar conclusion about the “decreasing scientific need for chimpanzee studies.” The new act provides a reason to celebrate and to hope that we might soon see the end of all chimp research in the U.S.

Source: Nonhumanrightsproject.orgBy Michael MountainThis morning at 10.00 E.T., the Nonhuman Rights Project filed suit in Fulton County Court in the state of New York on behalf of Tommy, a chimpanzee, who is being held captive in a cage in a shed at a used trailer lot in Gloversville. This is the first of three suits we are filing this week. The second will be filed on Tuesday in Niagara Falls on behalf of Kiko, a chimpanzee who is deaf and living in a private home. And the third will be filed on Thursday on behalf of Hercules and Leo, who are owned by a research center and are being used in locomotion experiments at Stony Brook University on Long Island. The lawsuits ask the judge to grant the chimpanzees the right to bodily liberty and to order that they be moved to a sanctuary that’s part of the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA), where they can live out their days with others of their kind in an environment as close to the wild as is possible in North America. Rather than filing a single suit, the legal team decided to do a clean sweep of all the chimpanzees we could find in the state of New York. This was, in part, because we were increasingly worried about their health and welfare, in that two other chimpanzees who were originally going to be our first plaintiffs both died before we could bring the case. Those two were Merlin and Reba, who were living in intolerable conditions at a roadside zoo, the Bailiwick Ranch and Discovery Zoo. The day our investigative team first visited this zoo, they found Merlin living alone, next to a bear, a tiger, and other animals pacing in their cages. When they asked about Merlin’s companion, Reba, they were told that she had recently died. Three months later, we visited the zoo a second time, only to discover that Merlin’s cage was empty. He, too, had died, two days earlier, of complications from an abscessed tooth. The owner of the zoo told us that Merlin had been punching himself in the face for several weeks before they had realized that something was the matter. He died in surgery.And then, just a few weeks ago, Kiko’s companion, Charlie, died of a heart condition that is common to chimpanzees in captivity. He was only about 28 years old. More....

Source: Smh.com.auBy Tim Barlass Have you ever seen been offered the chance to have a holiday snap taken with a cute monkey? Did you post the image on Facebook or ''like'' a similar picture on a friend's page? Then consider this message from the British animal charity Care for the Wild International: in doing so you have made the animal trade more lucrative and ''liked'' animal abuse and cruelty. The real story behind the happy monkey snap is that the tourist stunt is contributing to the decline of many primates. The animal was most likely taken from his family at a tender age and his mother inevitably killed. The monkey would have had his teeth and claws ripped out to ensure he did not scratch or bite during the photo shoot. Considered a working animal, not a pet, the source of revenue is ultimately dumped or killed when it is deemed no longer cute enough to be in front of the lens. The charity's chief executive Philip Mansbridge said it was easy to get caught up in the moment when on holiday, so having a photo taken with a cute wild animal may seem like a good idea. But if people knew the true story behind these animals then they would learn to say no. ''If you see a wild animal that isn't in the wild, then it's time to ask questions,'' Mansbridge said. ''If it's a young animal, where's its mum? Why is it so tame?'' The World Wildlife Fund estimates that the population of chimpanzees in the wild could be as low as 172,000. Chimps, officially ranked as endangered, have already disappeared completely from four countries.Lou Grossfeldt, supervisor of primates at Taronga Zoo said baby chimps may look gorgeous but they were also vulnerable.''By the time they reach five years of age, these animals are incredibly strong and powerful and they need to be tied up. More....

Source: Hetq.amBy Kristine AghalaryanArmenia now enjoys the dubious distinction of being a transit nation for endangered animals. These animals, from exotic African varieties listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species to those native to Indonesia, are being trafficked through Armenia without difficulty. The sale of proscribed animals is the 4th most profitable illegal business worldwide, following drug trafficking, human trafficking, and fraud. And the illegal trade of animals continues to grow yearly, and is now regarded as a major component of overall international crime. Some of the animals brought to Armenia remain in the country. Some are used as "attractions" at various businesses, like the street hawkers of old, to pul in customers. Some wind up as pets in the homes of Armenia's rich or wannabee-rich, to impress the neighbors or to add a touch of "class". The animal seen in the accompanying photos is the bonobo, (Pan Paniscus), formerly called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee. Native to the Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the species was listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List in 1996, and is threatened by habitat destruction and human population growth. The sale and export of the animal is banned in the DRC. Despite the ban, an animal resembling the bonobo has turned up in Armenia. The animal can be seen caged in the newly opened Jambo Park located in Dzoragbyur, a town in Kotayk Province. The “exotic park” is part of a restaurant complex that opened this past September. It’s the brainchild of Artyom Vardanyan, a businessman who relocated to Armenia, who likes to show off the rare animals in his collection.Illegal poaching is the main culprit, along with habitat destruction. The civil wars that racked the DCR in the 1990s and the ensuing lack of adequate conservation oversight opened the door to greater poaching on an organized level. The threats facing native stocks of bonobo grew to the point that the ICUN adopted a 2012-2022 conservation strategy for preserving the species. More....

Source: News.mongabay.comBy Jeremy HanceOnly 28 percent of bonobo habitat remains suitable for the African great ape, according to the most comprehensive study of species' range yet appearing in Biodiversity Conservation. The paper, involving over 30 scientists, analyzes the world's bonobo population using nest counts, remote sensing imagery, and computer modeling. The researchers found that bonobo presence was mostly correlated with human absence.

"Distance from agriculture and forest edge density best predicted bonobo occurrence [...] These results suggest that bonobos either avoid areas of higher human activity, fragmented forests, or both, and that humans reduce the effective habitat of bonobos," the scientists write.

Not identified as a separate species from the more well-known chimpanzee until the Twentieth Century, bonobos (Pan paniscus) have been little studied compared to their more widespread cousins. Bonobos are only found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), separated from chimpanzees by the Congo River. Smaller than chimps, bonobos are most known for their matriarchal society and their tendency to solve conflict through sexual behavior, which has given them the moniker of the "make love, not war" apes.

"For bonobos to survive over the next 100 years or longer, it is extremely important that we understand the extent of their range, their distribution, and drivers of that distribution so that conservation actions can be targeted in the most effective way," said co-author Ashley Vosper with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). "Bonobos are probably the least understood great ape in Africa, so this paper is pivotal in increasing our knowledge and understanding of this beautiful and charismatic animal."

Compiling data from 2003-2010, the scientists identified 2,364 "nest blocks," i.e. a one hectare area containing bonobo nests. Researchers have yet to estimate the total population of bonobos, but in the past they have speculated somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000.

"Areas closer to agriculture and roads are closer to human populations who tend to hunt in the surrounding forest," they write. "Roads and navigable rivers provide human access to areas that would otherwise likely be less vulnerable to hunting." More....

Source: Sciencedaily.comThe most detailed range-wide assessment of the bonobo (formerly known as the pygmy chimpanzee) ever conducted has revealed that this poorly known and endangered great ape is quickly losing space in a world with growing human populations.The loss of usable habitat is attributed to both forest fragmentation and poaching, according to a new study by University of Georgia, University of Maryland, the Wildlife Conservation Society, ICCN (Congolese Wildlife Authority), African Wildlife Foundation, Zoological Society of Milwaukee, World Wildlife Fund, Max Planck Institute, Lukuru Foundation, University of Stirling, Kyoto University, and other groups. Using data from nest counts and remote sensing imagery, the research team found that the bonobo -- one of humankind's closest living relatives -- avoids areas of high human activity and forest fragmentation. As little as 28 percent of the bonobo's range remains suitable, according to the model developed by the researchers in the study, which now appears in the December edition of Biodiversity and Conservation. "This assessment is a major step towards addressing the substantial information gap regarding the conservation status of bonobos across their entire range," said lead author Dr. Jena R. Hickey of Cornell University and the University of Georgia. "The results of the study demonstrate that human activities reduce the amount of effective bonobo habitat and will help us identify where to propose future protected areas for this great ape." "For bonobos to survive over the next 100 years or longer, it is extremely important that we understand the extent of their range, their distribution, and drivers of that distribution so that conservation actions can be targeted in the most effective way and achieve the desired results," said Ashley Vosper of the Wildlife Conservation Society. "Bonobos are probably the least understood great ape in Africa, so this paper is pivotal in increasing our knowledge and understanding of this beautiful and charismatic animal." The bonobo is smaller in size and more slender in build than the common chimpanzee. The great ape's social structure is complex and matriarchal. Unlike the common chimpanzee, bonobos establish social bonds and diffuse tension or aggression with sexual behaviors.The entire range of the bonobo lies within the lowland forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa and currently beset with warfare and insecurity. More....

Source: UPI.comAn all but forgotten species of ape is threatened by human activity and habitat loss, an assessment by U.S., African and European wildlife researchers found.The assessment of the bonobo -- formerly known as the pygmy chimpanzee -- has revealed this poorly known and endangered great ape is quickly losing space in a world of growing human populations, the Wildlife Conservation Society reported Tuesday.Both forest fragmentation and poaching are reducing the amount of usable habitat for the apes, the international study group found.The bonobo -- one of humankind's closest living relatives -- avoids areas of high human activity and forest fragmentation, the researchers said, and as little as 28 percent of the bonobo's range remains suitable.The entire range of the bonobo lies within the lowland forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo, currently experiencing warfare and instability."For bonobos to survive over the next 100 years or longer, it is extremely important that we understand the extent of their range, their distribution, and drivers of that distribution so that conservation actions can be targeted in the most effective way and achieve the desired results," Ashley Vosper of the Wildlife Conservation Society said."Bonobos are probably the least understood great ape in Africa, so this paper is pivotal in increasing our knowledge and understanding of this beautiful and charismatic animal."

Source: Coastweek.comA global wildlife firm plans to launch a database to monitor illicit traffic in chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos in order to support law enforcement and conservation efforts around the world. The Great Apes Illegal Trade Database to be launched by the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) will enable the people to better recognize the impact of illegal trade on wild populations. “We are only just beginning to understand the scale and the scope of the illegal trade in great apes, both at the national and international levels,” said GRASP coordinator Doug Cress during the Interpol-UN Environment Programme (UNEP) meeting in Nairobi on Wednesday. Cress said the database is an important tool that can help us identify hotspots, track trends and trade routes, and target markets. “This information will also allow us to better understand the impact of illegal trade on wild populations,” he added. It is estimated that nearly 3,000 great apes are lost from the forests of Africa and Asia each year. The Great Apes Illegal Trade Database is being developed in partnership with the World Conservation Monitoring Center (WCMC) and GRASP partners, which include range states, wildlife authorities, conservation organizations, UN agencies, and research institutions. Cress said relevant trends or information will be made available to international law enforcement and trade organizations such as Interpol, CITES, and the Lusaka Agreement Task Force for follow-up. The database is modeled on systems already in place to monitor the illegal killing and trade of wildlife, including elephants, tigers, and rhino horns, and will contain both public sections and restricted sections catered to partners for analysis and topic focus. The Great Apes Illegal Trade Database will be operational in mid-2014. GRASP is a unique alliance comprised of partner nations, research institutions, United Nations agencies, conservation organizations, and private supporters working to protect great apes and their habitat in Africa and Asia.

Source: Denverpost.comBy Gosia WozniackaOver the past few decades, as an exotic pet trade boomed and Americans bought cute tiger cubs and baby monkeys, sanctuaries sprang up across the nation to take care of the animals that were abandoned when they reached adult-size or were no longer wanted. The growth in both the number of the pets and the sanctuaries that rescued them has led to attacks. Since 1990, more than 20 people have been killed by captive big wild cats at sanctuaries, zoos and private residences, more than 200 people have been mauled and 200-plus wild cats have escaped, according to one of the nation's largest wild cat sanctuaries. The latest death is head keeper Renee Radziwon-Chapman, 36, who was killed by a cougar at an Oregon sanctuary last week. Experts say that because sanctuaries are largely unregulated and anyone can open one, there are no uniform safety protocols. And over-confidence or human error can lead to tragic consequences even among the most experienced of caretakers. "People running legitimate sanctuaries provide an alternative" to putting a wild cat down when it is no longer wanted by its owner, said Vernon Weir, director of the Nevada-based American Sanctuary Association which certifies sanctuaries. "But it's a risky business when you're dealing with dangerous wild animals. You can't leave any room for error," Weir said. For decades, exotic animals have been imported into the U.S. and openly bred for the pet trade. Despite new laws that limit the trade in some states, people can easily buy an African rodent, a chimpanzee, or a baby leopard at a flea market or over the Internet. Experts estimate the U.S. exotic pet trade is a multibillion-dollar industry. Hundreds of sanctuaries have opened throughout the U.S. More....

Source: Nonhumanrightsproject.orgBy RussellTenofskyThe recent documentary Blackfish vividly depicts the cause and effect of young orcas being stolen away from their mothers in the wild and their ensuing long-term psychological problems. A new study has now revealed that elephant culls as far back as the 1980s have resulted in similar ongoing, life-long psychological effects on the surviving orphan elephants and their families. Scientists from the University of Sussex led a study involving two distinct elephant populations in Africa. One population, living in Amboseli National Park in Kenya, were not involved in any sort of cull and were raised in a “traditional” matriarchal elephant society. The other, living in Pilanesberg Park in South Africa, consists entirely of orphan elephants relocated after “managed” culls in the 1980s and 90s. The groundbreaking study, published in the October 23, 2013 edition of Frontiers of Zoology, reveals that the relocated pack of orphans living together in Pilanesberg display the classic signs of long-term psychological effects, including basic decision making skills and symptoms that closely resemble post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “It is a groundbreaking study because it is the first to demonstrate, experimentally, a direct connection between the effects of culling and specific psychosocial harms,” Dr. Lori Marino, NhRP’s Science Director said to Science Magazine. “It shows unequivocally that elephants are psychologically damaged by culling.”The scientists first played audio recordings of familiar and unfamiliar elephants to 14 elephant families in Pilanesberg and 39 families in Amboseli. Then, in the second part of the experiment, they recreated calls from elephants of various ages and sizes. The first experiment was an effort to study the social knowledge of the elephants, and the second was an effort to understand the elephants’ reactions to various levels of social threats. The scientists found the elephant families living in Amboseli Park responded in “typical” coordinated elephant behavior. When the scientists played the call of an older, unfamiliar female elephant, the entire family would freeze, turn toward the threat and form a wall, trunks raised to sniff the wind, ears pricked to listen for any potential threat. More....

Source: Slate.comBy Charles Bergman On President Barack Obama’s trip to Africa this summer, he made history with a major speech on wildlife trafficking. The illegal trade in wildlife is one of the top threats to wildlife worldwide, and it is on the rise globally. The presidential spotlight on the issue is invaluable. As Obama was making his speech in Tanzania, I was also in Africa, working on a historic project in the fight against wildlife trafficking. With Jane Goodall, I was part of a four-person team from the World Parrot Trust. We were in Uganda to release a group of African Grey parrots that had been confiscated as they were being smuggled into Bulgaria. It was the first time that parrots smuggled out of Africa were returned to the continent and released back into the wild. “It’s a story of how bad the trade has become,” Goodall said over dinner the night before the release. “And it’s a story of hope.” African Grey parrots are among the most heavily traded of all animals. Their popularity is fueled by recent research on their astonishing intelligence. In some ways, their cognitive abilities rival those of a 3-year-old child. Alex, the “genius” African Grey parrot studied by Irene Pepperberg, had a vocabulary of more than 100 words and a sassy tongue—a smart Alex. They may be the smartest birds in the world. According to Rowan Martin, the energetic ornithologist who managed our release of the parrots, about 2 million African Grey parrots have been captured from the wild for the global pet trade since 1975. This figure is staggering. Most of the parrots were captured as part of a thriving legal trade in wild-caught parrots. It seems counterintuitive: Obama and many conservationists focus on the illegal trade, with its shadow world of poachers and smugglers, but the real problem may be the legal trade itself. On July 10, Goodall and Martin pulled on a long rope, and a window slowly jerked open on the makeshift aviary where the confiscated parrots were housed. The parrots didn’t rush to freedom as you might expect. More....

Source: Defenceweb.co.zaWildlife products, including animals, as well as natural resources such as timber and minerals have and are still funding conflicts around the globe. Apart from the loss of species and income, habitat loss can lead to a vicious circle of further species loss.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s great apes are particularly affected by conflict. The United Nations, in addition to supporting efforts to end armed violence, protect civilians and spur political stability, is also an active player in the environmental battle to save the great apes, the region’s iconic local totem and a vital link in its biodiversity.

“There has always been a fear that armed conflict would damage the great apes – bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans - and even wipe out certain wildlife,” said Douglas Cress, programme co-ordinator at the Great Apes Survival Partnership (Grasp), led by the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

“In terms of natural resources, the DRC is one of the most potentially lucrative regions in all of Africa. The country has rich reserves of timber, gold, tantalum (used in cell phones and computers) and potentially also oil.

“The fight for possession of these resources, as well as land and political power, is a major cause of conflict with rebels such as, most recently, M23, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and others that have emerged from the area or entered from neighbouring countries.”

Conflict degrades the natural environment

“In turn, conflict endangers the natural environment. All natural resources suffer during conflict. It’s not always a certainty that wildlife will be exploited to death, often it’s just exploited,” said Cress.

To stave off extreme degradation of the DRC’s natural environment, the UN and its partners are working with international law enforcement, governments and local communities to save wildlife and habitat.

The forests of the DRC represent half of the total area of tropical rainforest in Africa, providing shelter for great apes, such as the mountain gorilla and the bonobo, as well as the okapi and elephant, among other mammals and countless species of birds and reptiles.

The country’s rich biodiversity led to five natural sites – Garamba, Kahuzi-Biega, Okapi, Salonga, and Virunga – being designated to the UNESCO World Heritage List between 1979 and 1996 and since then, with nearly all species of animals declining, to the List of World Heritage in Danger. More....

Source: AllAfrica.comPress ReleasePresence of other rebel groups in region, in combination with other threats against great apes, still pose potential harm to the endangered species. After more than a year and a half in conflict against the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the M23 rebel group has announced it will disband and disarm, paving the way for peace in eastern Congo. The recent events are a positive sign not only for people, but also for the endangered mountain gorilla, whose habitat has inadvertently served as home base and occasional battlefield for the rebel group. "The disbanding of the M23 rebel group will mean one less threat to the mountain gorilla, and that is a very positive thing," remarked Jef Dupain, director of the Great Apes Program for the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF). "We must remain vigilant, however, as a few dozen rebel groups are still thought to operate in this area. The potential for conflict, in addition to the other threats that great apes face, means that ensuring stabilization of the mountain gorilla population must remain a priority for conservation groups and the region's governments." Only about 880 mountain gorillas exist in the world, and all live in Africa's Virunga mountain range--where DRC, Uganda, and Rwanda meet--and Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This part of Africa is particularly rich in natural resources, and the potential for exploitation of these resources has regularly played a role in area conflicts. Natural resource extraction poses a significant threat for Africa's great apes, as well, whose forested habitats are being degraded and diminished over time. "Today's great apes are under threat not only from habitat destruction and fragmentation, but also poaching, the risk of disease transfer from humans, and the pet trade," Dupain explained. "Even without conflict and war, Africa's apes are struggling for survival." Africa is home to four of the world's five great apes. All four--which include the eastern gorilla, of which the mountain gorilla is a subspecies, western gorilla, bonobo, and common chimpanzee--are either endangered or critically endangered. In an effort to provide greater protections to great apes and their habitats across Central and West Africa, AWF recently launched the African Apes Initiative. The initiative leverages the organization's three decades of experience in mountain gorilla and bonobo conservation to build capacity among protected area authorities, strengthen monitoring of protected areas, provide much-needed equipment for rangers, and increase community engagement in conservation.